The Vulture Squadron Contest Group – M0VSQ / G9V https://www.m0vsq.co.uk/ Contesting from Gloucestershire Tue, 18 Jul 2017 17:06:24 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 88715238 G9V takes #1 England in CQWPX RTTY 2017 https://www.m0vsq.co.uk/g9v-takes-1-england-cqwpx-rtty-2017/ https://www.m0vsq.co.uk/g9v-takes-1-england-cqwpx-rtty-2017/#respond Tue, 18 Jul 2017 17:06:24 +0000 https://www.m0vsq.co.uk/?p=334 Another one to add to the collection: #1 England SOSB 15m HP.

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Another one to add to the collection: #1 England SOSB 15m HP.

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G9V takes #1 England in CQWW RTTY 2016 https://www.m0vsq.co.uk/g9v-takes-1-england-cqww-rtty-2016/ https://www.m0vsq.co.uk/g9v-takes-1-england-cqww-rtty-2016/#respond Tue, 06 Jun 2017 10:51:36 +0000 https://www.m0vsq.co.uk/?p=331 The post G9V takes #1 England in CQWW RTTY 2016 appeared first on The Vulture Squadron Contest Group - M0VSQ / G9V.

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CQ WPX RTTY 2017 – G9V https://www.m0vsq.co.uk/cq-wpx-rtty-g9v/ https://www.m0vsq.co.uk/cq-wpx-rtty-g9v/#comments Mon, 13 Feb 2017 11:35:56 +0000 https://www.m0vsq.co.uk/?p=318 Couldn’t get together a team effort for this one so Darrell G0HVQ decided to take part from home with the G9V call, single-band 15m with a Hexbeam and 400W. Going for SOSB 15m seemed a bit crazy at first, as 15m has been dead for the last few months with the solar flux in the …

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Couldn’t get together a team effort for this one so Darrell G0HVQ decided to take part from home with the G9V call, single-band 15m with a Hexbeam and 400W.

Going for SOSB 15m seemed a bit crazy at first, as 15m has been dead for the last few months with the solar flux in the low 70s and the solar cycle nearing minimum. However, the band woke up for the contest and 277 QSOs were made. Some nice DX in there: YB1AR, YE1K, YB0NDT, V53DX, V5/DJ9KM, 9M2TO, 4S7KKG, PZ5RA, FG5LA, OA6Q, YV5IUA, PJ6T, P49X. The northerly path was not there though, so no JA, VK or ZL, and very few VEs. The band opened just after UK sunrise around 0730z and shut an hour or so after sunset around 1830z, and it stayed open to South America an extra hour on Sunday evening.

Band     QSOs    Pts     WPX
21      277         708    205

Total claimed score: 145,140

 

 

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CQWW RTTY 2016 – G9V https://www.m0vsq.co.uk/cqww-rtty-2016-g9v/ https://www.m0vsq.co.uk/cqww-rtty-2016-g9v/#comments Sat, 29 Oct 2016 13:11:25 +0000 https://www.m0vsq.co.uk/?p=295 Building on previous RTTY contest entries, which the team are enjoying more and more, we decided to give WW RTTY a real good shot this year. Sadly we were a few men down due to other committments but the four of us arrived at the contest site on a beautiful sunny day and setup the …

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Building on previous RTTY contest entries, which the team are enjoying more and more, we decided to give WW RTTY a real good shot this year. Sadly we were a few men down due to other committments but the four of us arrived at the contest site on a beautiful sunny day and setup the aerials in record time. We went for the trusty Spiderbeam for 20/15/10 and verticals for the low bands, with the addition of a 2nd vertical for 40m to give us a phased array.

The sunspot cycle had dropped considerably over the summer so we weren’t expecting much from the high bands. 15m was a struggle at times and 10m hardly opened at all, apart from some TEP down to South America. 20m should have been the bread-and-butter band but even there we struggled to get decent runs. But the low bands really shone, especially 40m with the phased verticals as can be seen from the scores – nearly 800 40m QSOs. It’s hard to state how good the phased verts were, we monitored USA SDRs and they heard us right through daylight hours. Kudos to 2E0SQL the king of night-time operating who racked up this amazing number of QSOs.

The weather was kind all weekend, which was good as we operate from a very windy location. No real aerial dramas except the Spiderbeam ate into the support pole, a persistent problem we’ve encountered due to the way it’s mounted.The other major drama was a PC failure in the middle of the night: thankfully one of the laptops was put into service and we were able to recover the log from the other PC when we got back, and piece the two logs together. Good job it was a WW contest with no serial numbers, although it did mean we had no record of previous QSOs on the laptop and so worked a few dupes.

We had a fast breakdown at the end of the contest, and just before the rain arrived, . All in all a fantastic weekend and preliminary scores suggest we’re no.1 in G for our category.

G9V team: Peter 2E0SQL, Iain M0PCB, Chloe M0GEJ, Darrell G0HVQ

Band  QSOs  Pts  ZN  Cty
3.5      415     927  12   48
7         798   1867  20   65
14       547  1363   19   58
21       417  1075   22   56
28         16       37     7   10

Total QSOs 2193

Total Score: 2,476,430

40m phased verticals, a game-changer

40m phased verticals, a game-changer

Spiderbeam on a push-up mast, with 40m verticals in the background

Spiderbeam on a push-up mast, with 40m verticals in the background

G9V operating position

G9V operating position, with obligatory beer and Clive the team mascot

 

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RSGB IOTA Contest 2015 – GU9V https://www.m0vsq.co.uk/rsgb-iota-contest-2015-gu9v/ https://www.m0vsq.co.uk/rsgb-iota-contest-2015-gu9v/#respond Mon, 10 Aug 2015 10:53:58 +0000 https://www.m0vsq.co.uk/?p=285 Usually VSQ members Iain M0PCB, Chloe M0GEJ and Pete 2E0SQL join the HamTests team for the IOTA contest and operate as MU0HTJ. This year, due to the incredibly unfortunate and untimely passing of Louis 2U0FER plans changed somewhat. Already we had decided that in 2015 the Vulture’s short contest call would be used as GU9V, …

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Usually VSQ members Iain M0PCB, Chloe M0GEJ and Pete 2E0SQL join the HamTests team for the IOTA contest and operate as MU0HTJ. This year, due to the incredibly unfortunate and untimely passing of Louis 2U0FER plans changed somewhat.

Already we had decided that in 2015 the Vulture’s short contest call would be used as GU9V, and the team comprised Iain M0PCB, Pete, 2E0SQL, Paul M0TZO, Tom 2U0TKB and Rob 2U0WGE. Massive thanks for all the help provided by the Guernsey ARS in the guise of a hexbeam and mast, tent-age and general support.

A reasonably even split of CW vs SSB again this time and some decent run rates. The short call certainly helped keep interest up and made for a fun contest. Originally planned as a much more relaxed and small scale effort we exceeded our previous score and logged the same number of QSOs as last year.

We operated and also camped at the Les Maingys Scout Activity Centre, who were very kind to let us erect the antennas in a field to ourselves.

Score summary:

Call: GU9V
Operator(s): 2EØSQL 2UØTKB 2UØWGE MØPCB MØTZO
Station: GU9V

Class: Multi-Op LP
QTH: Guernsey, EU114
Operating Time (hrs): 24
Location: Island

Summary:
Band CW Qs CW Mults Ph Qs Ph Mults
80: 81 20 176 42
40: 290 41 310 56
20: 593 55 436 46
15: 53 20 14 10
10: 0 0 0 0
Total: 1017 136 936 154 Total Score 4,223,850

 

Some photos:

Before the contest MU0PCB was active mainly on the WARC bands. Clive the Contesting Penguin was on watch as usual.

Before the contest MU0PCB was active mainly on the WARC bands. Clive the Contesting Penguin was on watch as usual.

The multiplier station, K3 loaned kindly from Dick GU4CHY.

The multiplier station, K3 loaned kindly from Dick GU4CHY.

The GARS folding hex-beam and mast, also supported dipoles for 80m and 40m.

The GARS folding hex-beam and mast, also supported dipoles for 80m and 40m.

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CQWPX CW 2015 https://www.m0vsq.co.uk/cqwpx-cw-2015/ https://www.m0vsq.co.uk/cqwpx-cw-2015/#respond Sat, 30 May 2015 20:15:25 +0000 https://www.m0vsq.co.uk/?p=272 A team effort didn’t come together for a variety of reasons so Iain M0PCB entered this contest SOSB 20m LP Assisted, aiming for a new record. The station was a K3, G3TPW Cobwebb at 33 feet and 100W output. Roughly 24 hours of operating produced the following claimed score: Band     QSOs     Pts  WPX 14    1031    …

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A team effort didn’t come together for a variety of reasons so Iain M0PCB entered this contest SOSB 20m LP Assisted, aiming for a new record. The station was a K3, G3TPW Cobwebb at 33 feet and 100W output.

Roughly 24 hours of operating produced the following claimed score:

Band     QSOs     Pts  WPX
14    1031    1627  652
Total    1031    1627  652
Score: 1,060,804

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CQWPX RTTY 2015 https://www.m0vsq.co.uk/cqwpx-rtty-2015/ https://www.m0vsq.co.uk/cqwpx-rtty-2015/#comments Mon, 06 Apr 2015 17:07:11 +0000 https://www.m0vsq.co.uk/?p=253 Darrell G0HVQ activated G9V single-op single-band 10m High Power, making a total of 539 QSOs inc some nice runs into JA in the morning and West Coast USA in the evening. Band   QSOs   Pts  WPX 28    536    1407  356 Total     536    1407  356 Score: 500,892

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Darrell G0HVQ activated G9V single-op single-band 10m High Power, making a total of 539 QSOs inc some nice runs into JA in the morning and West Coast USA in the evening.

 Band      QSOs   Pts    WPX
 28        536    1407   356
 Total     536    1407   356
 Score: 500,892

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CQWPX SSB 2015 https://www.m0vsq.co.uk/cqwpx-ssb-2015/ https://www.m0vsq.co.uk/cqwpx-ssb-2015/#comments Sun, 05 Apr 2015 20:19:57 +0000 https://www.m0vsq.co.uk/?p=274 This year we had made some significant improvements to the station, with mono-band antennas for each of the HF bands.  These were a 3 ele mono-band Spiderbeam for 20m at 55 feet, a 3 element mono-band Spiderbeam for 15m at 40 feet and a 4 element yagi for 10m at 60 feet. The 40m and …

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This year we had made some significant improvements to the station, with mono-band antennas for each of the HF bands.  These were a 3 ele mono-band Spiderbeam for 20m at 55 feet, a 3 element mono-band Spiderbeam for 15m at 40 feet and a 4 element yagi for 10m at 60 feet.

The 40m and 80m antennas were the usual full size quarter-wave verticals on Spiderbeam poles with 48 and 36 radials respectively.

CQWPXSSB Summary Sheet

       Start Date : 2015-03-28

    CallSign Used : G9V
      Operator(s) : M0IRD, M0SPF, 2E0SQL, M0PCB, G0HVQ, M0GEJ

Operator Category : MULTI-OP
Assisted Category : ASSISTED
             Band : ALL
            Power : HIGH
             Mode : SSB
 Default Exchange : 001
       Gridsquare : IO81UT

             Name : Vulture Squadron CG
          Address : 
   City/State/Zip :     
          Country : ENGLAND

     ARRL Section : DX
        Club/Team :  
         Software : N1MM Logger+ 1.0.5053.0

        Band     QSOs     Pts  WPX
         3.5     284     685  111
           7     466    1220  280
          14     781    1313  235
          21     532    1028  214
          28     300     728  183
       Total    2363    4974 1023


            Score : 5,088,402

Some pictures:

20m Spiderbeam and 10m Yagi atop the NN4ZZ Hexlock

20m Spiderbeam and 10m Yagi atop the NN4ZZ Hexlock

All the antennas in view, l-r 40m vertical, 20/10m on tower, 80m vertical and finally the 15m mono-bander.

All the antennas in view, l-r 40m vertical, 20/10m on tower, 80m vertical and finally the 15m mono-bander.

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CQWW SSB 2014 https://www.m0vsq.co.uk/cqww-ssb-2014/ https://www.m0vsq.co.uk/cqww-ssb-2014/#comments Wed, 05 Nov 2014 10:57:28 +0000 https://www.m0vsq.co.uk/?p=280 We nearly pulled the plug just after arriving at site, after finding we were down to half complement due to illness, car failures and family holidays. Nevertheless, we decided to push on but set-up took significantly longer with only 3 people. Given the extended set-up time and lack of our usual night-time ops, we decided …

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We nearly pulled the plug just after arriving at site, after finding we were down to half complement due to illness, car failures and family holidays. Nevertheless, we decided to push on but set-up took significantly longer with only 3 people. Given the extended set-up time and lack of our usual night-time ops, we decided not to put up the 80m vertical, but to focus on the high bands as long as they were open, then 40m in darkness.

It was a good thing we did we press on, the high bands were in superb shape despite several large solar flares during the contest. Sunday seemed to be better than Saturday. Had some great runs into the US and JA on 15m, and got called by AH0 and ZL. 10m was a little tougher with not the anticipated number of JAs but was still good, with a great run into the US late on Sun. This was the first outing for our mobile tower and Spiderbeam together, using an NN4ZZ hexlock.

We exceeded our score from last year despite the team only being at half capacity and with no operation in the early hours.

Call: G9V
Operator(s): GØHVQ MØGEJ MØPCB MØSPF
Station: G9V

Class: M/S HP
QTH: Glos
Operating Time (hrs):
Location: Northern Europe

Summary:
Band QSOs Zones Countries
160:
80:
40: 407 16 64
20: 687 28 76
15: 869 24 72
10: 756 29 103
Total: 2719 97 315 Total Score 2,263,116

Some photos:

The antennas at G9V, 5-band Spiderbeam on the tower and the 40m vertical behind it.

The antennas at G9V, 5-band Spiderbeam on the tower and the 40m vertical behind it.

Steve M0SPF at the helm.

Steve M0SPF at the helm.

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G9V takes #1 England in CQWW CW 2014 https://www.m0vsq.co.uk/g9v-takes-1-england-in-cqww-cw-2014/ https://www.m0vsq.co.uk/g9v-takes-1-england-in-cqww-cw-2014/#comments Mon, 05 May 2014 20:13:12 +0000 https://www.m0vsq.co.uk/?p=206 Darrell G0HVQ operated Single Op 80m Low Power. Placed 1st in England, 11th in Europe and 13th in the World.

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Darrell G0HVQ operated Single Op 80m Low Power.

Placed 1st in England, 11th in Europe and 13th in the World.

G9V_CQWWCW_2014

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